Turkey's air force kills five PKK members

(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) ISTANBUL, Dec 15 (KUNA) -- The Turkish Air Force neutralized five members of the Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK) during counterterror operations in northern Iraq, the military said Friday.

Strikes on PKK targets were carried out in Iraq's Hakurk region, the Turkish military chief of staff said in a statement.

According to the Turkish Armed Forces, a counter-terror operation in Avasin-Basyan region of northern Iraq is still underway.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and EU.

In 33 years of violence against Turkey, more than 40,000 people have been killed.

The outlaw group uses northern Iraq's mountainous border region to launch attacks on Turkey and has its main base at Qandil, near the Iraq-Iran border. (end) ta.mb